Huge majority of Iraqis want coalition to go

Just to put the final period on my last post, here's a report from the Guardian. According to a poll commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence and leaked to the UK press:

fewer than one in 100 respondents felt the presence of American, British and other allied troops was improving security in the country.

Forty-five per cent countrywide were said to believe that the attacks on the troops were justified - a figure that rose to 65 per cent in the Maysan, one of the provinces policed by the British. No fewer than 82 per cent, according to the report, declared themselves 'strongly opposed' to the presence of coalition troops.

Britain's rightwing Conservative Party's defence spokesman had this to say:

"if British soldiers are putting their lives on the line for a cause which is not supported by the Iraqi people, then we have to ask the question "What are we doing there?"

No, the question to be asked is: "What's the best way to leave?"